the appetizer:

Some Western culinary influences in Japan, including Portugal (tempura) and the Americas (teppanyaki), have been so integrated into Japanese cooking, it is difficult to differentiate them from more traditional Japanese cuisine like sushi and kaiseki. Standard Japanese meals usually include rice, soup, pickles and an entree, like fish or vegetables.

Add 1 inch of water to a 12-inch table-top skillet (electric or gas, whatever is available). Add the kombu and boil. Just before it starts to actually boil, remove the kombu. If you are using dashi powder, add it now. If you soaked the shiitake mushrooms, dump that water in here, too. Anyway, just put whatever you want to eat in the water to cook it until ready. Serve with dipping sauce (just mix what's shown above) and lots of steamed rice. It will make you very warm.

If you have the luxury of obtaining shichimi togarashi, sprinkle in a bit for added flavour.

When you are finished, dump some rice into the remaining water and cook gently to make congee. It's good in the morning.

Copyright (c) Ken Iisaka. May be distributed freely provided this copyright notice is not removed.